Improvement in tuning metallic reeds



UNTTED STATESv PATENT Carica.

J. SHALER IVES, OF NEWT YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN TUNING METALLIC REEDS.

Spccilication forming part of Letters Patent No. 4,499, dated May D,1846.

To all whom yit may concern:

Beit known that I, J. SHALER IVES,of the city, county, and State ot' NewYork, have invented new and useful improvements in the method ot' tuningthe metallic reeds ot' seraphines, accor-(lions, olians, and all otherinstruments depending upon the vibrations of metallic reeds for theirtones; and I do hereby' declare that the following is a full, clear andexact description ot' the principle or character thereof whichdistinguishes them from all other things before known, and of the mannerot' making, constructing, and using the same, reference being had totheaccompanying drawings, making part of this' specilication, in which-Figure 1 is a perspective View Fig. 2, a lon-- gitudinal Verticalsection, and Fig. 3 a crossvertical section taken at the lineX X ot'Fig. 2.

These drawings only exhibit one ot' the reeds connected with a sectionot' the top ot'the Windchest ot' an ieolian attachment ota piano, theothers being all arranged in the same manner.

The saine letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

Accordions, seraphines, and all other instruments deriving their toilesfrom the vibrations of metallic reeds have been seriously objected to onaccount ofthe difficulty ot' tuning them, this having generally beeneffected heretofore by tilling, scraping, or otherwise reducing thethickness ofthe reeds; but ot' late various attempts have been made,with more or less success, to ett'ect this end on the principleheretofore employed in tuning the metallic reeds of organs, whichconsists in using a slide which presses on the reed and holds it firmlyon the edges ot' the plate, for in the organ the reeds extend over theedges of the plate that surrounds the apertures, and the reeds aregripped between the bed on which they rest and the tuning-pressers, thetone required in organs admitting of this; but in the instruments abovereferred to the reeds vibrate freely in the windapertures, and thereforeit was necessary to make material alterations in this old mode to adaptit to the tuning ofthe reeds in that class ot'instrurnents to which Ihave referred; but all these modifications are too complex andexpensive, as they grip the reeds on both sides, and the two grippersmust be connected, that they may move together, which requires the reedto be of equal thickness from end to end,

instead of being thicker toward the heel, and, besides this, they do notadmit ot' the adjustment of the plane of the reeds relatively to theaperture by which it is made to speak,(asis technically'terined,)adjustment for this purpose being as important as it is tor tuning.

The object of my improvements is to simplify and cheapen theconstructionand provide means for the adjustment of the reeds to make them speak.These ends I obtain by making the reeds which are attached to the bottomot' their appropriate plates to spring up through the apertures in whichthey vibrate, so that by the application ofan adjustable pressure abovethem their 'plane can be regulated relatively to the apertures with thegreatest'nicety to insure their speaking and giving out the best tones,the vibration beinginsured fora good tone by the pressure ot' thenspringot' the reed against the presser'. rIhis pressure I make by means of ascrew (or other mechanical equivalent) connected with a slide adapted tothe top ot' the plate, and regulated by means ot' a screw to adjust itsposition relatively to the length ofthe reed for the purpose ot' tuning;and the cheapness I attain by making the plate to which each reed isattached with its edges to lap over and form the ways for the slide towork in, so that. by making this slide with two parallel branches orbars to tit in the grooves thus formed it (the slide) can be made to iitthem by simply bending the branches or bars that they may act assprings.

In the accompanying drawings, a represents a part ofthe top of thewind-chest, and b the metal plate, to the bottom of which the heel ofthe reed c is secured by a rivet, d, or screw,so that the reed shallvibrate freely in a slot or aperture, c. This reed is made to spring up,as represented by dotted lines,so that when it is pressed down to itsappropriate speaking position it shall not rattle against the presserand injure the tone. Pressure is made on the upper surface of the reedby the point of the screwj', tapped in a metallic slide,g, which has twoparallel branches or bars, h li, tha-t rest on the plate b, one on eachside ot' the slot or aperture,and` the whole slide is kept down onthetop ot' the plate by the turned edges i z' ofthe plate, which are bentup and then over the branches 7L li, thebody ofthe slide being notchedto receive the edges t' 't ofthe plate. The object ot making the slidewith the two branches reed to raise or lower the tone.

takes into a notch in one ofthe turned edges of the plate, so that byturning this screw by means ot' a key the slide is made to move towardor from the heel of the reed, and as the point ofthe screw j' rests onthe reed this adjusts the length oi" the vibrating part of the It. willbe obvious that instead of the screw f, that regula-tes the speaking ofthe reed, an adjustable slide may be substituted, but with lessadvantage, and that the screw l for regulating the tuning may bevariously arranged Without in any manner affecting the principle of myimprovements.

-What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. Tuning metallic reeds that vibrate within the apertures for thepassage of the Wind by means of adjustable pressers that act against thespring of the reeds, substantially as hereg in described.

2. Making the slide with the parallel spring` bars or branches,substantiallyA as herein described to insure the working oiK the slidewithout being` affected by the vibration of the reed, as described.

3. lllaking pressure on the top of tbe reed by an adjusting-screw orother analogous device to regulate the speaking of the reed, asdescribed.

J. SHALER IVES.

Witnesses:

Uris. M. KELLER, A. P. BuoWNE.

